It was sunset when we finished following the trail to its end. The path of death ended a few hundred paces from the edge of the forest. A human village was not far from the place that the trail ended.

Knowing that a conflict might arise when I met the presence, I decided to stop for the night inside the forest. Being in a human village at night would be a double blow to my power. I was not confident in my ability to come out on top under those conditions. Leafia and Istan wanted to do some more scouting around for clues but I was not willing to allow that. It would be dangerous for them if they met that death plague and I was feeling insecure. My power had not been this weak in hundreds of years. The forest was thin here and had very few ancient trees. I have never been one that liked to take risks. Why else would I lock myself up for hundreds of years? And after all, what harm could one more day bring us?

That night I did not I did not feel the presence enter the forest. I also stretched my senses as far as I could into the prairie beyond the forest. I could feel some thing or things different around the village, but the plant life was too weak and the distance too far to feel clearly. I already knew whatever it was had the ability to hide itself to some extent since it disappeared last night near the village. I was sure that I should have been able to sense it now that I was this close. But no matter how I searched, nothing could be found.

When the morning came I felt like it was a waste of effort staying up all night on guard while nothing happened. My actual need for sleep is almost none, but even for me, staying fully aware of my surrounding is emotionally draining. This might have something to do with living by that peaceful pond for so long. I had almost nothing that I needed to worry about there. I wondered how Mist was doing on her own. This was the longest that she had ever been on her own. Actually, this is the first time she has been on her own at all if you do not count me sleeping.

I focused on getting my mind back on the topic at hand when Leafia and Istan started to wake up. “Good morning” Leafia said with a yawn. “I am guessing that since you did not wake us up that nothing happened last night.”

I nodded to Leafia. “No matter how hard or far I searched I could not find any trace of it.” I said with a frown. “I was thinking of first heading into the human village to see if we can learn anything about what has been going on. Have either of you been to the human village before?”

“It has been many years since I have been there and I am not sure that anyone in the village will remember me, but I have been there once when I was younger.” Istan replied.

“Can I ask you to lead the investigation in the village? It has been such a long time since I have interacted with humans I am not sure I can do so without accidentally offending someone.” I let out a little sigh remembering the last time that I had contact with humans directly. It did not end well. I could not help wondering if that incident was remembered among the humans. I imagined a legend of a green haired Goddess that buried the village in vines when they tried to capture her to burn her at the stake for being an enchantress. Despite my best effort a smile started creeping over my face.  All I did was change my appearance so that I no longer looked naked, was that such a big deal? Or was it the green hair that did it? The smile did not last long as I thought that they might remember me as some hideous devil to make themselves feel better. Even if I was a spirit, I was still female, and I took some pride in the way I looked. Though there weren’t any greater spirits that were males, I still wanted to be viewed as beautiful.

The fading smile creased into a frown. Maybe it would be better if they did not remember after all.  After that huge failure the first time, how was I going to interact with a group of them now? I had on occasion shown myself to one in the woods, but they seem to act differently in groups than on their own. This was not going to be easy for me.

Seeing my face continuously changing Istan asked. “Is something the matter?”

“I was just wondering about what stories still exist from my last venture out of the woods.” I replied. Then dropping in tone “I am afraid they might not be that flattering.”

Istan was slightly puzzled by my words, no doubt wondering why his Goddess would be worried about that. Leafia, though, gave a smile of understanding. I am not as great and glorious as those elves think I am. I just happen to be immortal with great powers.

There was no more excuse to stay in the woods at this point, so it was time for us to head to the village. The further I got away from the forest the more I could feel my power diminishing. I felt comparatively weak and exhausted. It's not that the farm fields were not providing me with strength, but the density was much thinner than I had grown accustomed to in my home.

The village had a rough timber fence around it. The fence was likely there to keep the animals out since it did not look sturdy enough to keep attackers out for long. Istan lead us around the field to a clear trail that had been made by countless feet of men and animals. There were also long straight tracks like someone was dragging a flat piece of wood across the ground which I was having a hard time figuring out.

As we walked into the open gate I felt my power sink even lower. It felt like it was near the middle of the night and all the plants were asleep. I staggered a little at the sudden change.

“Are you alright, Mother?” Leafia asked as she grabbed my arm to help be gain my balance.

“I am fine. I just wasn't expecting the drop in my power the be so severe when I entered this village.” I said as I straightened my self out. “You should also be calling my by my name. I do not think that I look old enough to be considered your mother. (I don't look that old, do I?) And there is no way I could be considered Istan's mother.”

“There is no way I could dare disrespect thee by calling thee by thy name.” Istan slipped into deep formality in his astonishment.

“If you can not call me by name then you are going to have to leave. There is no way I am going to let your pride hinder my chances of finding Faun. She is one of the only friends I have ever had.” Istan and Leafia were both taken aback at my firm attitude, but I needed them to know how important this mission was for me. I also never cared in the first place if they called me by name or not. That was just some arbitrary rule that they made themselves. If it was going to get in my way, it had to go. “And enough with speaking formally. You are not very good at it,” I added directly to Istan.

“Ok. Laurel.” Leafia said with a small voice. To which I gave a nod to show that I approved. I turned around and started walking further into the village. I could tell that Istan was mumbling something about “showing proper respect” and “wanting to honor the Forest Mother’s wishes” behind me. Clearly he was conflicted about my orders. But I walked on, letting him know by my silence that the conditions I stated were not negotiable.